


Tension

by bubblymeg



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, M/M, Theatre AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-18
Updated: 2014-11-18
Packaged: 2018-02-26 02:59:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2635490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bubblymeg/pseuds/bubblymeg
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“drama school rivals being cast as romantic opposites because they have ‘crazy sexual tension’ according to their director AU”</p><p>basically exactly what it sounds like</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tension

**Author's Note:**

> Saw this prompt and got inspired. I wrote this really quick, probably didn't proofread enough. It's pretty short and predictable, but enjoy.

Dean Winchester loved acting.  He didn’t really know where it had come from, with his pretty jacked up background and all, but it was the one thing that let him escape from his life for a little bit and just forget who he was.  He didn’t even really know he was good at it until he lost a bet in high school and auditioned for the school musical and then somehow ended up as the lead.  He figured his ease with lying and thinking quick on his feet helped a bit, and Sam always said Dean could tell the most convincing lies. Which was essentially what acting was: lying about who you are to a huge crowd.

 

The thing is, Dean was really damn good at acting.  His director in high school, Mr. Shurley, would often mix up Dean and his character, because Dean put everything he had into his characters. It was really the only way he knew how to do anything. One day Mr. Shurley called Dean into his office and sat him down before handing him a handful of flyers for colleges where he could major in theatre.

 

Dean thought it would be impossible for him to get into these schools since his GPA wasn’t too hot, but with a stellar letter of recommendation and a hell of a lot of hard work, here he was, 18 years old, living his dream at his top choice. The full ride didn’t hurt, either.

 

It was without a doubt that Dean’s favorite class was intro to theatre, and although he didn’t click with his professor like he did with Mr. Shurley, the class was still fascinating and Dean loved everything about it.

 

Well, maybe not everything.

 

The only person on campus who drove Dean batshit insane happened to be in the very same class with him, and from the first day of classes Dean knew they were gonna be rivals throughout the entirety of the semester.

 

Castiel Novak was his name, and he was a fucking weird dude who only spoke when he knew the answer to a question, but that meant he basically never shut up.  And Dean could have dismissed it if Castiel sucked at acting, but he was so damn good that Dean felt personally betrayed whenever Castiel stepped on stage.  He made Dean want to laugh and cry and applaud until his hands were red, but mostly he made Dean want to punch him in the face.

 

Castiel knew he was good, too. Whenever he finished a scene he would look over at Dean and smirk this little smug smirk that made Dean cringe, and it would take all his willpower to keep a straight face as he glared right back.

 

“Why do you guys hate each other so much?” Dean’s new friend Jo asked him one day as they walked back to the dorms from class, raising her eyebrows as she looked over at him.

 

“He’s a cocky son of a bitch who thinks he’s better than everyone,” Dean shot back, huffing as he crossed his arms.

 

“You’re just jealous because he’s gotten more roles than you this semester.”

 

“Am not!”

 

“Are so.”

 

And, okay, maybe Jo was right. Castiel had been cast in nearly every production the drama department had put on thus far, and it was driving Dean insane, even though he had been in a considerable number of productions as well. They were just always trying to outdo each other, and apparently their professor and the rest of the class had noticed, because Dean was constantly getting comments about when him and Castiel were just gonna fuck it out.

 

Dean refused to admit to himself that Castiel was even remotely attractive, he was too busy hating his guts to focus his energy anywhere else.  At least, that’s what he told himself. He totally hadn’t had certain fantasies involving someone with messy dark hair and piercing blue eyes.

 

***

 

In November cast lists went up, and Dean was freaking the fuck out. He knew this next production would be the biggest of the semester, and he had been busting his ass during class to try and get noticed. Their director wouldn’t tell them what show they were doing or who would be auditioning for what part, which only added to the mountain of stress that was crushing Dean.

 

He tried not to run to check the front door of the black box, and calmly pushed his way to the front of the crowd to read the names neatly typed out on a sheet of paper.

 

His name was first.

 

Castiel’s was second.

 

“What?” Dean said to himself, blinking as he tried to understand what that could possibly mean. He wasn’t familiar with the play, so he had no idea who he or Castiel would be playing, but he knew they were the two leads.

 

“It’s a romance,” a dry voice said from behind Dean, and he turned to see Castiel himself standing there, looking about as displeased as Dean was feeling. His lips were turned down into a mix between a scowl and a frown, and his blue eyes were harsh, which was a look he usually reserved for when Dean made an especially snide remark towards him.

 

“A romance as in... what, like, love triangle? We’re the two guys a girl is trying to decide between?”

 

“Nope,” Castiel said, his frown deepening slightly. “No love triangle. Just us.”

 

It took Dean a second to figure out what the hell Castiel meant, and as it hit him his eyes widened and he felt like he was being punched in the stomach.

 

“Wait, _what_? Oh hell no. Not in a million years.”

 

***

 

Their professor had office hours that afternoon, and Dean showed up early for once in his life so he would be guaranteed a chance to speak with him.

 

Professor Singer was nothing like Dean’s high school director. He was snarky and witty and to be perfectly honest was probably Dean’s favorite professor out of all the ones he had, but that didn’t mean Professor Singer was right about this. Dean was convinced he was out of his goddamned mind.

 

Nobody else seemed like they were going to show up for office hours so Dean knocked on Professor Singer’s door at exactly 3 pm, and heard his scruffy voice call “Come in”. Dean didn’t even get all the way inside the office before Professor Singer started speaking again.

 

“Ah, Dean, glad you came by. Scripts just came in, here, take yours. I want lines memorized by the first rehearsal, so you have a good few weeks if you start now.” He handed Dean a script without even looking up and continued reading whatever article he had found online this time about modern Broadway trends.

 

“Uh, thanks. I’m really honored and all, but why Castiel and me? Everyone knows we hate each other, we’re the literal worst choices for a romantic play.”

 

Professor Singer just chuckled. “Dean, you two have the weirdest and craziest sexual tension I’ve seen in a long time. You can channel that into the character, it will be great.”

 

“Sorry, _sexual tension_?”

 

“You heard me. There are at least three bets of when you two will get together circling through the department. You two look at each other like the only thing you want to do is find an abandoned classroom and go to it.”

 

Dean flushed in embarrassment, making a indignant sound before running his hands through his hair. “Not true. And no offense, but it’s kinda hard to play a romantic interest if you hate the person you have to pretend to love.”

 

Professor Singer finally looked up at him, eyebrows raised expectantly at Dean. “You don’t want the part? Because there are about fifty more kids who would kill for it, but you’re better than all of them.”

 

Dean frowned, because _hell yeah he wanted this part_. Being cast as a lead his freshman year? He couldn’t be more thrilled. And if Professor Singer believed in him, there was no way he was gonna let freakin’ Castiel ruin it for him.

 

***

 

Two weeks into rehearsal, and it finally was starting to look like Dean and Castiel’s blocking was natural, and the timing of their lines was locking into place. Hell, Dean could even pretend that he liked Castiel for long enough to do a run of the show.

 

The only problem was the kissing.

 

See, in the scene right before the intermission Dean and Castiel’s characters got into a huge argument and Dean had to cut Castiel off mid-sentence. With a kiss. They hadn’t rehearsed that bit yet, but Dean knew there was only so much stalling they could do.

 

One Thursday afternoon they were running through the first act again, just them since the other characters had significantly fewer scenes and had been at rehearsals the rest of the week. They had gotten into the swing of their characters, and as soon as they started moving the furniture for the last scene, Professor Singer stood up from his spot in the audience and walked onto the stage.

 

“Okay,” he started, tucking his script under his arm and looking between Castiel and Dean. “You’re gonna do this scene alone today. All of it. I’m letting you do it on your own so you don’t feel awkward that someone’s watching, at least not this early on.”

 

Dean blushed, but was secretly grateful that they could figure this out on their own. He and Castiel still basically hated one another, but they had somehow managed to get through rehearsals without tearing each other apart. They were still intolerable during school, but while they were working on the scenes, Dean usually only wanted to rip his hair out every once in a while, which was progress. Not a lot of progress, but still. Progress nonetheless.

 

Professor Singer didn’t seem to notice how flustered Dean and Castiel were, and continued on with his speech as if nothing had happened. “A few tips, to make this easier for everyone involved. If you’re having trouble, try actually arguing beforehand, whether it’s just getting into the lines or a completely new argument. It will make everything seem more real. Also, element of surprise. It’s in the script, so roll with that. I’ll wait upstairs in my office, I have a hell of a lot of grading to do anyway. Come get me when you’re figured it all out, and we’ll either move on or I’ll dismiss you from there. Depends how I’m feeling. Take your time."

 

And with that they were alone. Dean stared at Professor Singer as the door closed behind them, and ran a hand through his hair as he turned to look at Castiel and took a deep breath. “Alrighty, Cas. Might as well get started. You wanna say something annoying and pretentious that will make me want to punch you in the face? That usually works.”

 

Dean smirked to himself as he saw Castiel clench his jaw, eyes narrowing at Dean. “Oh please. You act like I’m the only annoying one here, when you always act like a petulant child. Jealous much?”

 

“Jealous? Oh, that’s _rich_ , Cas. What on earth would I have to be jealous of, hm? Your stupid sweatervests? That’s all you got over me, that you dress like a fucking librarian.”

 

Castiel had the nerve to laugh. “You’re exhausting. I know you have this stupid competition between us going on in your head, and I’m sorry to break it to you, but I’m not trying to compete with you. I’m just trying to make it in this school, in this business. So sue me.”

 

“Don’t try to cover it up, you look so damn smug whenever you do better than me in class! You love making me look like an idiot!”

 

“What do you have against me?” Cas finally snapped, staring at Dean with his wide blue eyes. “What on earth have I ever actually done to you? I was nothing but pleasant the first day of class and you _hated me_. Please enlighten me, because I just can’t win with you, Dean.”

 

Dean was at a loss for words. Why did he hate Castiel again? He used to be able to pretend it was about roles, but they both knew it hadn’t been about that for a long time.

 

“I dunno, you’re just really fucking irritating.”

 

Castiel laughed mirthlessly, throwing his hands up. “Perfect. So I can’t even do anything about it, you’re just resigned to despise me for the re--”

 

Dean kissed him to shut him up.

 

He didn’t even really know what was happening, but one moment he was striding across the stage and then his hands were cupping Cas’ face and then they were kissing. Even though they both knew it was why they were here, they both seemed surprised by it, but after the initial shock Cas practically melted into Dean’s touch. He kissed Dean back like he had been dying to do this since they met, and hell, maybe he had. Dean realized that he had certainly had wanted this for much too long. Something about kissing Cas felt right to Dean, and one arm moved to wrap around Cas’ waist and pull him closer to Dean. Castiel’s fingers wove themselves into Dean’s hair, and he moaned softly at the feeling, cheeks reddening a little as he noted how completely wrecked he sounded.

 

They only pulled away when it was necessary that they do so, and even then they stayed tangled together and Dean brushed the pad of his thumb against Cas’ cheek. Their eyes were still closed, and their noses brushed every once in a while.

 

“Jesus, Cas,” Dean mumbled after he caught his breath. “Way to pull out all the stops.”

 

Castiel, _damn him_ , chuckled. “What can I say? I’ve been waiting for that. And I’m a great kisser.” And, hey, he wasn’t wrong.

 

Dean leaned in to kiss him again, much sweeter than last time. This kiss was tender, and Dean felt the butterflies in his gut as Cas smiled against his lips.

 

It took all of Dean’s willpower to pull back, looking at Cas with wide eyes and at least glad to see that Cas was in a similar state. “We should probably do it with the real lines. A few times.”

 

Cas nodded, running a hand through his hair and clearing his throat. “Yeah, right. We should do that. Might need to try it a bunch, just to make sure it’s natural, you know?”

 

Dean just stared at him for a second, a cheeky grin forming on his face. “Cas, you sly dog. Yeah, we can do it as many times as we need to. Don’t I at least get a kiss for good luck?”

 

Cas rolled his eyes, but grabbed the front of Dean’s shirt and pulled him close, pecking Dean’s lips and smirking. “You can kiss me properly when you can do it with your lines right.”

 

And that was all the incentive Dean needed.

 

***

 

When they finally had to do it for an audience, Dean was scared.  

 

Sure, all the tech people and other drama students had watched the show dozens of times before it opened, but when the audience was packed with his peers and strangers, Dean was pretty damn nervous.

 

“Dean, everything’s gonna be fine,” Cas reassured him as they sat backstage waiting for places to be called. “We’ve rehearsed this for months, we both know this show forward and backward. There’s no way we can mess this up.”

 

“They could hate it,” Dean mumbled, looking over at Cas with wide eyes.

 

Cas shrugged, as if the thought hadn’t occurred to him. “So what if they do? It’s our show, not theirs. We put in the work, we deserve to enjoy it.”  
  


Dean knew Cas was right, but he still couldn’t help but worry. He leaned against Cas a little, letting his eyes fall shut as Cas pressed a kiss to Dean’s temple.

 

“Oh god,” Anna, another freshman who was in a few scenes in the show, said as she walked into their side of the dressing room. “Save it for the stage, please. Also, they just told me places in five minutes, so I came to tell you: places in five minutes.” She left without another word, her red hair twirling dramatically as she turned on her heel and walked out.

 

Dean stood, stretching a little and pacing back and forth. “How are you so damn calm?”

 

Cas stood, tilting his head slightly and staring at Dean. “I’m not sure. I just trust you, and I know we can do this.” He paused, a smirk growing on his face as he walked over and stood in front of Dean. “It helps to know I get to kiss you before the act is over.”

 

Dean rolled his eyes, but that idea helped him calm down too. “Yeah, you gotta pretend to hate me beforehand though.”

 

“It’s worth it.”

  
And okay, yeah, it totally was.


End file.
